Sierra is ONE!

I have no idea where the past year went, nor what happened to that sweet 10 lb. 6 oz., not so little newborn that was placed in my arms! It is hard to imagine our family without this precious little girl. I love her sweet smile that she generously shares with others. I love her love for her daddy and how she grabs for him whenever he is near by. I've loved watching her learn how to do everything as quickly as possible in order to keep up with her siblings. I love that she is FINALLY saying mama, at least sometimes :)

She is so funny. Since she got new toys on her birthday, she has been very protective of those toys. Whenever the other kids play with them, she grabs for them and yells ;) Yes, she is a sinner just like the rest of us, but precious non-the-less! She loves anything made into the shape of a Popsicle, tomatoes, and really, most anything she can put in her mouth. She tries to put everything into her mouth. My other kids never did that, but Sierra definitely likes to use her sense of taste to examine the outside world. When she's tired she sings herself to sleep. When her sister sings, she claps along. She cries as loud as she can when she is left in the nursery. We're working on that.

Yes, we are blessed!

Kaiyah

Umm, where did this little girl come from and what did she do with my baby? Seriously, it seems like over night Kaiyah grew into a little girl. Her favorite saying right now is, "I a three year old. I can do it all myself." Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes not so much :)

So often these days I find my heart just filled and over flowing with gratitude from all God has blessed me with. I love my family so much. I love being the mom to Kaiyah. I love to hear her giggle with delight. I love it when she looks over at me and says, "I do love you." I love eavesdropping on all the conversations she has with her toys, or really any object she happens to decide to play with. I love to watch her friendship with Zeke and Sierra grow.

Last year at this time she would pitch fits when forced to wear dresses. This year, she wears them with delight, and exclaims, "I am SOOOO pretty!" She is smart, picking up on a lot of the stuff Zeke is learning in school. She loves to go treasure hunting with her daddy.

Yes, my baby is definitely growing up. And you know, I wouldn't change it. Sometimes I look at pictures like the one I just posted, and think, awww, I don't have much time left with my little girl (Yes, I'm the one who has already shed tears thinking about my kids going off to college. Hey, it's a big deal when you live thousands of miles away from where they will move to), but I wouldn't change it because I know the years to come have just as many fun stages and memories. I think I'll just work on treasuring the blessings God gives in each and every day!

Zeke ice skating

Here is a video of Zeke ice skating. It goes from Zeke skating forward, around cones, backwards, being taken for a ride by his teacher and then to him being comforted by his friends because he was crying for his family! Zeke is in the red helmet.

Sickness and such . . .

The kids are sick . . . AGAIN. Z and S have both been running pretty high temperatures. This morning S woke up with a temperature of 105.4 . We didn't panic . . . much. We went through this with K not long ago, so Dan ran a cool bath, I grabbed the medicine and we had it down in no time. A few hours later Z was complaining that his chest hurt. So, we're currently in another round of sickness for this winter. Sad thing is, we're missing some great spring weather! We aren't the only ones who have struggled this winter. One family we know started taking Modifilan Pure Brown Seaweed extract believing that a lot of the sickness comes from all the mold in our homes here and that this would help. Anyone heard of it or know anything about it? The following picture was right after the cool bath, trying to get S's temperature down. She's still posing for the camera. What a mess!

So, after being stuck at home for 3 days, when Dan once again started talking about shaving his head, I said, "Okay!" Pretty handsome if I do say so myself!

Dan went and had his knees looked at finally. Apparently 25% of the knee is missing the cartlidge that is supposed to be covering it. Ouch. No wonder he hurts when he walks too much.

Growing up . . .

A couple of weeks ago, Zeke asked if he could go to the bakery and buy some bread for his breakfast all by himself. As Zeke gets older we have seen some different parenting instincts between us. Whereas Tami is more likely to think, sure, go for it, Dan is a little more reserved. So, Dan walked Zeke to the bakery, taught Zeke what to say, and Zeke bought us bread.

Yesterday, Zeke again asked if he could go get us some bread for breakfast. This time Tami went with him. She stood across the street and let him go the rest of the way by himself. When he got to the bakery, he didn't weigh enough to open the automatic door! The baker came and helped him with the door and greeted him excitedly. A few minutes later, a proud little boy exited the bakery with two different types of bread, exactly what we had all asked for!

Later in the morning, we decided to let the kids play out in our enclosed garden on

their own. They are both pretty careful around cars, so again, Tami was going to let them walk themselves through the parking garage to the garden. But, Dan decided he would walk them out there and teach Zeke to use his cell phone to call us when they were ready to come in. About 10 minutes after they got out there we hear Zeke yelling at the cell phone. He couldn't get it to work. So, Dan called him and Zeke informed us there were stinging bees out there. About 5 minutes later, Zeke again couldn't get the phone to work and started yelling. Dan called him back and he said that Kaiyah needed help to get on the swing. Haha! So, the phone thing didn't pan out so well, but it was nice to get them outside a little even when we didn't have the time to take them!

Sierra has earrings!

Today, after I picked Zeke up from school we went to the park to play. When Dan got home, he decided to walk down and meet us. On the way home the kids were asking for ice cream. So, we decided to stop and get Sierra's ears pierced so we would have a reason to celebrate. She wasn't a fan of the experience, but as soon as it was over, she was good! What a cutie!

Life

Two of my sister-in-laws do a weekly thing on their blogs where they tell what's going on in their family that week. While I love to read theirs, I'm not disciplined enough to come up with stuff to write about every week. But periodically, I can do it :) So, here's what's going on with us . . .

Dan: Dan is getting geared up for Senior Portrait season. He has committed to taking Sn. portraits again this year for an International school in the area. Zeke's preschool also asked if he would take portraits of their students, but a time hasn't been set for that yet.

Tami: Yesterday my friend invited me over spur-of-the-moment. So I grabbed Kaiyah and we went over. Well, when we got there, my friend's 3-year-old son started opening the front door, yelling and crying wanting us to leave. I watched for awhile and then asked my friend, "Do you want him to have to learn, or do you want us to leave?" She said, "I guess you should go." So we left. Culture is a funny thing.

Zeke: Two or three days ago Zeke got home from school. A few minutes later I heard him messing around in the kitchen. I went in and he was drying the dishes. He said, "I just wanted to help you by drying these dishes mommy!" So sweet. I've been reading a book called "Raising Real Men." One thing it talked about was looking at a chore and deciding who the youngest child is that could do the task. I've been trying to do that more and include both Zeke and Kaiyah in on more of the tasks around the house. Now I know drying dishes can be added to that list :) Zeke is also doing an amazing job reading. We're really proud of him.

Kaiyah: Kaiyah is the pretender in this family. I love it. Everyday I catch her with her toys in the middle of some discussion. Recently I caught her with my pick that I use for my hair. Each of the prongs (is that the right word?) was a different character. One prong was telling the other they were going to get a spanking with the naughty spoon! Ha!

Sierra: Sierra is teething again. She seems to suffer more when the big canine teeth come in, running fever, up in the night, lots of dirty diapers. BUT, she gives lots of sweet cuddles too, whereas she's normally too active for such things! She now has added nah-nah (night-night) to her vocabulary and uses it when she is tired and wants to go to bed! Still no mama though!

Have a great day!

Grandma Hunt

2437 S. 128th east avenue . . . It's a funny thing, I couldn't tell you a single address of where I lived growing up, or in college. I can't remember the address of the apartment I lived in post college, shoot, I can't really even tell you my current address. But I think my Grandma's address is permanently etched in my mind. She hasn't lived there is a LOT of years, but it was the address we used for our permanent address when I was growing up overseas, so I guess that's what it is, a permanent address! My Grandma passed away yesterday, but the funny thing is, the Grandma I remember is the Grandma in this house. Dan never met this Grandma, I wished he had. So, I thought in her memory, I would share some of the memories I have of her.

When I was in 5th grade or so, my sister and I went to live with my Grandma for a few months while my parents studied language in another country. A lot of my memories come from this time period. Who can remember Grandma without thinking of jello and nutty buddies for dessert :) We always had Taco Tico tacos for lunch on Sunday because they had a 3 for $1.00 sale. And there was always cosmopolitan ice cream in the freezer.

I remember my Grandma was willing to play game after game with my sister and I. I don't know how many rounds of skipbo we played in a week! Dominoes were also a favorite of hers. She had a pool table in her garage, and she could definitely hold her own.

I remember hours of Mr. Ed, Green Acres and [gasp] soap operas! I can still hear her saying, "You're going to catch your death of cold!" and "Lawzie". I think my sister at one point started a book of all her funny sayings.

I remember her out working in her yard, mowing the lawn tirelessly even when her knees ached with arthritis. She grew tomatoes and had a pretty grape vine.

She was very giving, always looking in on her neighbors as they looked in on her. Giving people rides when they needed it. She always greeted people with a sing-songy "Good Morning!"

Before my Grandfather died, they had planned to come visit us in Africa. My grandfather passed away, but my grandmother chose to go ahead and come all that way on her own. I don't remember the circumstances, but on this visit she and another lady had to bring a fishing boat part way to get to us. I have this vision in my head of my sweet and fairly large grandma being carried over the last few waves by this little African man. Haha. I'm sure I could go on and on but I'll stop here. I'm grateful for the wonderful influence Norma Hunt was on my life and so many others around her. I am so happy that she has been released from the captivity of a body and mind that is fallen and is now complete and whole, living joyfully with our Savior.

I love you Grandma.

Asure Pudding

There is a traditional soup/pudding thing that is traditionally served here 40 days after the Sacrifice Feast. Most everyone makes it and serves it to their guests and neighbors. We've received a portion several times since living here. Today a friend brought a portion to us. It's very interesting. I'm not really a big fan, but Zeke raves about it.

I read online that the legend goes that once Noah's arc settled on Mount Ararat, everyone on the arc wanted to celebrate. However, most of the food was gone, so they just took everything they had left and made this sweet soup! Everyone makes it a little differently, but a sampling of what is generally found, or could be found in it goes as follows: wheat, chickpeas, white beans, rice, apricots, raisins, figs, oranges, sugar, rose water, and pomegranates. Anyone care to give it a try?

Christmas Day in pictures

Christmas Eve

Our church here always has three Christmas eve services. So far we've only been able to attend the first service which is a "family service." The past two years they have asked the kids to dress up as shepherds, angels or wise men to help tell the Christmas story. This year Zeke was a shepherd and Kaiyah was an angel.

Kaiyah wasn't really feeling her angel role. She lasted for a few minutes and then came and sat back down and took her robe off :)

Zeke did great as a shepherd and was such a big boy holding his candle during the closing candlelight song.

Sierra just enjoyed chewing on Kaiyah's angel ribbon and smiling at everyone around her . . . and trying to help the sound guy that we were sitting close to!

Merry Christmas! (A tad late)

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas, and it dawned on me today that I have failed to share December's kitchen door craft with you guys. This month we did reindeer. You can tell whose is whose, I think. Yes, mine's nose is blue for the Tigers. And no, Sierra didn't color her own, but it was a collaboration between Tami, Zeke and myself. I hope you enjoy.

And while you're here, enjoy a nice glass of eggnog. Yes, with raw eggs and everything. It's wonderful.

Tallest Building in the World...

I got to go to Dubai last week. In case you've wondered where the world's tallest building is, it's there, and this is it: It's the Burj Khalifa. Those buildings next to it are about 30 stories. It is 160 stories, and 2,717 feet tall. It's pretty tall. Read more about it here, if you're interested. Here is a picture I took of it:

Story

This is a neat/convicting story for anyone that's interested:

http://www.mikeysfunnies.com/archive/richFamily/index.html

Funnix

I've been trying to figure out what all I'm going to use for kindergarten homeschooling next year with Zeke. I found this phonics program called Funnix, and although I haven't found anyone who has actually used it before, I'm planning to give it a try. It's a CD based program and somewhat costly. However, this morning when I was looking over their information once again, they had an announcement posted that in January, they will be giving their program away for free. I assume they are trying to get more exposure, still being a relatively new program. So, if there are any other homeschooling moms out there looking for a phonics program, check out funnix.com.

Christmas is in the air!

Pumpkin

The other day our neighbor asked if we would be interested in a whole pumpkin. Their family had grown some and were giving them away. We said sure, we would love one. This is the pumpkin they brought us:

They don't have the orange skinned pumpkins here, but rather these white/green skinned ones. However, the insides are still orange and they seem to taste pretty much the same to me.

After skinning it, cooking it, and mashing it here is one of the MANY "tasties" we'll be enjoying from this pumpkin!

Yep, that's right, a pumpkin pie. For those of you that know Dan and I, you know we don't care for pumpkin pie. Originally I looked up this recipe to make one for my neighbor as a thank you for the pumpkin. After reading some of the reviews, several people mentioned that they don't normally like pumpkin pie, but really liked this one. So, we made a little "tester" for ourselves, and it was really good! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you missed the kids' Thanksgiving Day post in their blog, check it out with the link on the side of this page. Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Tell us what you're thankful for. Here's a family craft:

And on a side note, I took this for something else, but it's a macro shot of some the grass in the bottom right side of the picture above. I thought it was kind of neat looking.

CheeseQs and Caterpillars???

This is the CheeseQ, a wonderful little cheeseburger/BBQ crossover that was introduced to me in Wynne, AR, at a little restaurant called Wait's, which is, sadly, no longer in service. My wonderful parents brought me some Corky's smoked pulled pork, which we had for dinner last night, so today, we had hamburgers, and I made a CheeseQ. What is it exactly? You start with the bottom of your hamburger bun. Put down the all beef patty; cover it with cheese (American if you can get it; ours is similar to that.) Next comes the fun part. Top it with a generous helping of smoked pulled pork shoulder, coleslaw, barbecue sauce, and mustard. Then put the top bun back on. Very very good.

And on another note. Tami had lettuce on her cheeseburger. Then she had a cheeseburger wrapped in lettuce instead of on a bun. Then we looked over on the kitchen counter and saw this little guy on the lettuce.

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She almost threw up.

Autumn Crafts...

Here's our latest fall project. Can you tell which one of our kids is getting old enough to glue his own pieces?